Bantering out of Lust
by IrishPanther
Summary: "Oh, you know what they say…two is company, three is a crowd."


**Hello, everyone! IP is back to present a one-shot I did for an event that was put together by The Room.**

 **The prompt for this entry was simple - it needs to mention three / third / one-third (or two-thirds, or some other fractional number in thirds) in either the title, the summary, or in the A/N before the story.**

 **I hope I did the forum proud, as well as the fandom...please enjoy! :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM!**

* * *

 _He loves me…he loves me not…_

 _But what if I didn't? How do I bring that out for him to understand?_

 _It's never easy for one to admit their true feelings and desires. The way I see him look as we go our separate ways…time after time, it's like he doesn't want me to go._

 _Lust can be horrible in so many ways…but oh man, do I love to play that game._

 _It's a rise to power; it's that hunk of green – to have them as second fiddle and for them to have never realized this whole time…_

 _That is why I keep going back._

* * *

Rouge smiled as she closed her black notebook, satisfied with her latest entry.

"I do have to hand it to that hedgehog, he gave me some good advice on how to best utilize this look."

She can recall it in her head as clear as day…Shadow barging into her room after another rough day at work, thrusting the notebook at her which was met with a worried glance.

At that, he only gave one small response… "I don't know, write in it."

So, she did, and as each page became filled with personal thoughts, it started to dawn on her that there was one issue with no resolution in sight.

There were two of her closest companions – each wanted more than what she laid out for them.

For Knuckles…that red echidna had no clue what hit him.

' _It was so easy getting him going…always wanted to resist, but then caved right in.'_

The emerald is and forever will be her endgame. That gem will be his to protect throughout his life.

What better way to get by a defense then by using a little trickery? No harm, no foul.

For Shadow…it was more complicated. She couldn't pinpoint who he was when they first met, but as time passed, she began to learn about his past life…about Maria…

' _Maybe that's why he takes a small liking to me…filling a void.'_

The hedgehog would never admit within his life the feelings he held. They were small but still close. Rouge knew with each departure that the feelings grew more and more; his facial expression grew wearier every time.

Shadow wanted her, but she didn't return the favor – not now, not ever.

But still, she would ponder night after night; how would he take the rejection?

It would be best for her to squander any hope that the guys had now rather than later, and she knew how to go about doing that.

There was only one question that remains – could she do this with a straight face?

* * *

When morning came, Rouge awoke with a fresh mind, confident that everything would work in her favor. Tidying up her appearance before she went down for breakfast, a small smirk began to show on the bathroom mirror's reflection.

' _You are going to kill this without a doubt!'_

One descending flight of stairs later, upon entering the kitchen, she found her target.

"Morning, Shadow."

The black hedgehog gave a somber wave as he was occupied with digesting his bagel.

"My, my, what do we have here?"

The seductiveness of her voice didn't make his response any better. "It's early, I'm hungry, and I don't feel like talking."

"Oh, but Shadow," Rouge replied as she made her way over slowly, "you are never too busy to chat with little old me."

As she placed her hands on the table and bent down to make eye contact, Shadow's eyes started to flicker away, not wanting to glance.

"C'mon, why don't you open up a little."

He found himself in some hot water – this was too much exposure to handle this early in the day.

"Well…work is going to be a pain, as normal."

"I'll be there to soften the blow."

She kept her tone very provocative, not wanting to cease.

"…Okay? Then I come home and wonder what I'm doing with my existence."

"Maybe I can help?"

She moved her hand right on top of his, grazing the fabric of his glove.

"Tonight…you and I, we'll go and—"

Rouge looked past Shadow and stopped short of finishing.

"…And, we'll what?"

The bat chuckled before answering, "Oh, you know what they say…two is company, three is a crowd."

"Morning."

The hedgehog flinched only in the slightest as he heard Omega's greeting.

"Well then, where was I?"

As Rouge removed herself to salvage some breakfast, she kept stealing glances towards Shadow's direction. Every pondering movement, every scowl, every headshake…

Oh, did she love to play dirty.

* * *

Midday came like it was nothing.

"Commander, I'm going to be needing to borrow one of the carriers for my break. I'll return it in one piece."

When he gave his patent hand wave – normally done when he was drowning in tasks – Rouge headed towards the flight center, hopped into her usual ride, and took flight within a matter of seconds.

Five minutes of travel to and from only gave her an estimate of fifteen minutes; even with that, she knew it would be plenty of time.

As the destination became closer to her sight, she chuckled a bit. "This is always too easy."

Upon touching down at her normal strip, she took flight towards the large green emerald at the front of the island…where he will be.

"Aha! I knew I sensed someone around here!"

She glanced down to see Knuckles on top of the Master Emerald in his fighting stance.

Rouge snickered at the scene. "Oh, you are too adorable when you become riled up for me."

Landing on the ground in front of the steps leading up to the gem, she waited as the red echidna hopped off and rushed towards the bat.

"What is it?" he asked as he stood now face to face.

"I'd figure I would come here during my break and spend some time with you…"

She trailed off as she started to graze her hands upon his chest.

"You wouldn't mind that, right?" She asked, the seductive voice returning for an encore.

As quickly as he was in fight mode, Knuckles became awestruck, not knowing how to react.

"I mean…that would be nice; it's been a while."

"Yeah, we haven't seen each other since—"

"Not us, but anyone…really…"

He always would let his guard down as soon as this side came out of her.

' _Keep my eye on the huge prize…go along with it.'_

"You haven't seen anyone? How long has it been? I mean, that doesn't sound…healthy."

As she started to caress his dreads, he shook his head and breathed out a sigh before responding.

"Probably a few weeks. I rarely get any interaction outside of teaming with Sonic and Tails on an adventure because of my duties, and they come visit every now and again…but, well, it's a bit too often for my taste."

His eyes suddenly widened as she placed her hand on the back of his neck, rubbing it gently.

"Seems to me that you need company more often, huh?"

He was at a loss for words, so a small head nod ended up being his response.

"Tell you what," she replied with a smile, "tonight, come on over to my place and we will chill."

"…What…wait, hold…hold up," Knuckles stammered with his arms raised, "how am I to get there?"

Rouge answered by pulling out a small square device with a small button right in the center.

"This here," she explains, "is used for teleporting. Its setup already, so all you will need to do is—"

"I think I understand how this works."

"Gee, I guess you aren't as dumb as everyone says."

The look she gave – seductive eyes with a curious face – caused Knuckles to freeze for a second time.

As the sound of nearby critters began to sound, Rouge gave a smirk before asking, "Well, you know what they say, right?"

The echidna broke from the trance before responding, "No, what?"

"Two is company, three is a crowd."

Knuckles chuckled a bit before replying, "You're telling me these critters care about what we do?"

"Who knows…but we can save it for tonight."

She took off back to her carrier in an instant, only glancing back to see him awestruck at her exit.

' _The table is set…now the only thing to do is tear it down.'_

* * *

Evening came faster than midday for the bat. The table was set for two, and only for two, as she had initially planned.

"No room for me?"

She turned to see Omega standing in the entrance way to the dining room.

"You'll have your dinner soon but let me have my fun first."

"Suit yourself," and the robot excused himself towards the couch in the living room.

Rouge breathed a sigh of relief, which didn't help calm the nerves as she heard Shadow enter the kitchen through the garage with a bottle of wine in his hands.

"Alright, I'd figure you would enjoy this…" he looked down to study the glass bottle before finishing, "…blanc of white."

Rouge giggled, batting her eyes afterward. "You are too funny."

She saw the same look he gave earlier in the morning – a scowl with some pondering eyes.

"I'd figure the two of us could use some alone time, so Omega is going to patiently wait to eat."

"That better be delicious and having your tongues salivating," the robot chimed in from across the room.

Shadow nodded in a small, awkward bob before excusing himself upstairs to become more prepared. As he reached his bedroom, the doorbell rang.

"Who is that?" Omega asked, to which Rouge shushed him on the spot.

"Oh, you'll see," she said as she opened the door to see Knuckles on the other side.

"Hey," the echidna waved with his free hand, the other one gripping the device he received a couple hours before, "the device worked as planned."

"Well, it's always a plus when everything goes to plan," she said, approaching him in a tempting manner.

"So…" Knuckles said nervously as he felt her hand grazing the back of his neck, "what is happening tonight?"

"A little dinner, followed by something a little bit more…alluring, if I were to say so myself."

"You better enjoy yourself," Omega said from inside, alerting the two.

"…Yeah, what Omega said," was the echidna's response before he was ushered in by the bat.

"Wow, I have to say you have a nice setup."

As Knuckles made himself comfortable in a seat at the table, Shadow exited his room and headed downstairs.

"Oh boy."

The robot's statement didn't halt the hedgehog in his track, but he froze when he spotted Knuckles at the dining room table with Rouge sitting opposite of him.

"You didn't tell me we had company?" Shadow said bitterly as he shot a glare towards Rouge.

"…Well, welcome," Knuckles said as he waved, "I guess we can have room for…"

As the echidna looked again at the current setup, then back at the hedgehog, his eyes finally laid rest on the hostess, smirking with dishonest eyes.

"You know what I said earlier, right?"

It was then that the two guests were stumped.

"Yes," Omega replied, standing up and approaching the small party, "Two is company, three is a crowd."

Rouge nodded. "I think its time for me to lay one huge bombshell on the two of you."

"Who do you like more – him or me?"

Shadow was taken back by the question that Knuckles provided.

"…You have to be kidding," Shadow responded, glaring towards the echidna, "there is no way that—"

"If you two think I like the other being better, I have a bridge across the ocean to sell."

The hedgehog slowly turned his head towards her, his glare still intact.

"You…really mean that?"

She heard his voice nearby breaking – whatever pain she endured at that moment, she brushed it aside and continued onward.

"There was only one reason I kept around you…it was power. You had something the Commander loved, and I wanted to know what that was. Needless to say, he eventually saw me as an equal…but the feelings you had for me continued to fester. We make good friends…too good of friends for me to ever cross that path."

It took a split second after Rouge finished for Shadow to bolt up the stairs and into his bedroom. As she heard the door slam shut, she felt a small piece of the lock – the friendship between the two – break apart.

"…You want my emerald, don't you?"

She was snapped back to reality as Knuckles asked his question.

"…It was always about the emerald, and it will always be about that emerald," she responded in a deadpan tone.

Knuckles nodded as he excused himself from the table and exited the house. A couple of seconds lingered in silence before Omega asked, "What happened?"

"Oh, you know," Rouge responded as she got up from the chair and headed towards the stove to retrieve dinner, "something I had planned for a while now that desperately needed to go into fruition."

"I see," the robot said before glancing towards the empty seat at the table, "so, can we now eat?"

Rouge nodded as she served the meal – tendered pork with sweet potatoes, all prepared in his normal rounded thermos.

"Thanks…if you don't mind, I have a question to entertain?"

"Sure, go for it," the bat responded as she fixed herself a plate, sat down, and began to open the wine.

"You know you had that saying to the boys, right?"

"…Yes?" she said quizzically as she poured herself a glass.

"If two is a company, and three is a crowd…what would four have made?"

Rouge smiled and shook her head. "Sometimes, its best to leave things unanswered."

* * *

 _Tonight…ended up turning out extremely well, thanks to my convincing ways._

 _Those two never saw it coming – hitting them like a freight train that kept on moving._

… _Still, I hope that Shadow is doing fine…_

Rouge stopped writing and looked up at the wall opposite from her bed in still silence.

He didn't come out of his room until after she ate…she knows tomorrow morning will be rough, as will the next few days…maybe weeks…

… _Maybe in the future, it can work, but now…now is not the time._

 _I still have ways to go in my quest to the top. If my lustful ways end up deceiving me, then so be it._

 _I would rather die shameless than living in shame. Besides, isn't life supposed to be fun?_

As she finished her entry, she closed the notebook and solemnly nodded.

' _Yeah…things will work itself out, one day at a time.'_


End file.
